Compacting work machines are supported on one or more rotating drums that are used to roll over and compact stratums such as soil, aggregates and asphalt mixtures during the construction of roadways, parking lots and buildings. The rotating drums include one or more vibratory mechanisms mounted within the rotating drum to increase the compacting force during operation. The vibratory mechanisms include an eccentric weight that is supported by a bearing arrangement inside a pod or self-contained housing. The eccentric weight is rotated causing the drum to vibrate, thus increasing the efficiency in which the material, the drum is rolled over is compacted.
During operation the bearing arrangement becomes very hot as the eccentric weight is rotated thereon. The heat can reach relatively high temperatures that can cause damage to the bearing arrangement, which increases the maintenance cost of the work machine. Some drum assembly designs depend upon the heat being conducted away from the bearing assembly through the various components of the drum assembly surrounding the vibratory pod mechanism. However, this approach is relatively inefficient and under certain conditions still allows the bearing assembly to overheat. One approach to solving this problem, which has substantially helped to dissipate the heat of the vibratory pod mechanism, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,007,273 issued Dec. 28, 1999 to Kevin Magee and assigned to the owner of the present application. This design simply uses paddle arrangements positioned on the inner diameter of the drum assembly. As the machine traverses a work sight the paddles pick up coolant contained within the drum cavity and deposit the coolant on the exterior of a vibratory pod mechanism.
The present invention is directed to overcome one or more of the problems as set forth above.